Table games are a very popular form of wagering games. These games are referred to as table games because they are presented at a gaming table rather than at a gaming machine. These games include, but are not limited to, blackjack, poker, baccarat and other types of card games, as well as roulette, craps and other types of games.
In the case of card games, physical cards are dealt by a dealer to one or more players who sit at a table. The players may utilize physical gaming chips to place wagers and may be paid winnings by the dealer in the form of chips.
While these games may be implemented at the table using basic gaming equipment such as cards, dice, a roulette wheel or the like, some attempts have been made to utilize equipment to automate game play, reduce error and expedite game play, and/or implement various secondary features. For example, some gaming tables have been fitted with RFID sensors which are capable of reading and recording gaming chips, such as to automatically log player wagers to reduce dealer error associated with manually calculating the value of chips wagered by a player. Likewise, some gaming tables have been modified to implement secondary features, such as wheel spin bonuses and the like, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,532.
While many attempts have been made to improve the configuration of gaming tables, a variety of problems still exist with these tables. For example, relative to spin features such as detailed in the '532 Patent, a mechanical spin button is connected to a controller via a cord. When a player is entitled to a bonus spin, the button must be passed from player to player across the gaming table. This is time consuming and can often result in inadvertent triggering of the button when it is passed by other players. Further, such equipment must be added to the gaming table in addition to the existing table game equipment, thus adding to the cost and complexity of the gaming table.
A new and improved method and device for implementing game play is desired.